Chromosomal Evidences of Adaptive Convergence in the Tail Morphology of Neotropical Psittacidae (Aves, Psittaciformes)

Behavioral and morphological characters, as well as DNA hybridization and sequencing data strongly suggests that New and Old World Psittacidae evolved independently, supporting the tribe status for the American species (Arini). However, species and genera relationships within this group remain poorly known, and convergence was detected in various morphological characters, which could lead to artificial classifications. Most authors have subdivided Arini tribe in 2 monophyletic groups based on the comparative length of the tail, what is still controversial. In this paper we are describing for the first time the karyotypes of Pionites leucogaster and Pionopsitta pileata, both short-tail species which presented the same karyotypical pattern only previously observed to the long-tail genera. The remarkable karyotypical dichotomy presented by the Neotropical Psittacidae emphasize the existence of 2 distinct monophyletic groups within the Arini tribe. Nevertheless, the karyotypes of P. leucogaster and P. pileata short-tail species, suggests that the generalization long and short-tail is not valid to represent these both monophyletical groups, and there could occurs convergence in tail morphology character.